Complete Translation Services with CLT

Established in 1996, Communication Legal Translation Est. (CLT) has gained wide-spread recognition since its inception as a regional pioneer in commercial translation services.

Based in the Middle East leading business hub of Dubai, they are dedicated to meeting their clients´ commercial goals and exceeding their expectations.

We had an interview with Mr Salah Al Zein, general manager of CLT..

When did you start your company?

The idea of Communication Legal Translation Establishment came about in in 1978 when I was a young new immigrant in Canada. At that time, I registered a private company under the Anglo Arab Translation. The translation department of the Ministry of State Multiculturalism and private citizens formed the core of my clientele. Communication Legal Translation in its current form was established in Dubai in 1996, two years after I arrived in Dubai on Contract with the UAE Ministry of Higher Education as instructor of Arabic and English at the Higher Colleges of Technology. In that initial period we served high profile customers in the legal community, such as Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co.; etc. On the corporate level, we served Majed Al Futtaim and Al Habtoor Group and Emirates Airlines. The vast majority of our clients are still with us today. Over the years our customer base expanded to include almost all economic sectors worldwide – legal firms, advertising and printing agencies, hospitality outfits, banks and economic institutions, consulting companies, insurance companies; etc.

You offer also online human translation?

We offer nothing but human translation. The idea of online human translation came about when we decided to expand the scope of our delivery to include online as well as hand to hand delivery. Online receipt and delivery of documents enabled us to service customers globally. This means that a customer can send us document for translation to any of our 75+ language. We send him/her a quotation. Upon approval, translation fees are paid online. Upon receipt of notice of payment, we translate the document and send it back by email. The term online translation is sometime misleading. People may understand that the translation is done by computer software. We therefore wanted to clarify that although the transaction is made online (send online, pay online and receive online), it was necessary to assure the customer that the translation is made by competent real human translators and not by a machine, such as Google.

Who are your clients?

We serve a large variety of clientele, notably corporate entities, government bodies, international organizations and ordinary people in the UAE, GCC, Middle East and worldwide.

Subtitling is also one of your services?

As a translation office, we offer transcription and translation of short corporate film strips, videos and animated presentations to companies and advertising agencies engaged in such business activities.

Communication Legal Translation

Technical translations are the most expensive or is there one overall rate?

Rates are determined according to the technical complexity of the text content. Translating a text in medicine or engineering takes much more time and effort than translating a non-technical easy to read and understand text. Therefore, charge for technical translation is more expensive (AED 125-150 per page of 250 words of the original text); whereas non-technical texts vary according to the level of complexity between AED 60 and AED 100.

Do you have international clients or mainly from UAE?

Our customer base is spread over a vast geographical area worldwide. Our core market is Dubai, UAE, GCC and the Middle East. But we also do business across the globe. Corporate entities, such as McKinsey and Co. and Delloitte, as we UN organizations are among our satisfied customers.

Do you accompany clients when they need translations abroad?

There is no need to do this as this will become too expensive to our customers. We have a vast network of translators worldwide. We can arrange for translators almost anywhere in the world.

Are you looking for any specific language to add to your services?

We operate in major languages of the world. We can arrange for the translation of any language you can think of. Our languages are divided geographically as follows: Middle Eastern languages, primarily Arabic, Persian and English; Asian languages, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, etc.; European language covering the languages of Europe and North/South America, and African languages.

What’s your added value compared to other competitors?

We offer a mirror image layout of any artwork. We have in-house designers who would produce an exact version of the original artwork and layout the translation thereon. As for the legal community globally, we can provide them with the English translation of the Arab GCC and Middle Eastern laws and court judgment search that can be used as precedent in litigation.

Are there new services coming up in the near future?

We currently have Arabic and English resume writing service online. We are planning to offer this service in many other languages to serve our worldwide clientele in this vital area.